But they’re in front of Judge Morrison on a stand-alone 6015 innocent spousery. Each of them filed a stand-alone, and IRS agrees to split.

It’s just not 50-50. Sam and Mae offer the 50-50 at the trial, not in their divorce decree, but that doesn’t matter.

Since Sam and Mae didn’t petition the SNOD, their good faith defense to the chops was off the table. You can’t litigate the chops at a stand-alone, only who gets hit with them.

IRS’s split stands.

“A committee report discussing the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (in proposed form) observed: ‘In some cases, a couple addresses the responsibility for tax liability as part of their divorce decree. However, these agreements are not binding on the IRS because the IRS was not a party to the divorce proceeding. Thus, if a former spouse violates the tax responsibilities assigned to him or her in a divorce decree, the other spouse may not rely on the decree in dealing with the IRS.’ H.R. Rept. No. 104-506, at 30 (1996), 1996U.S.C.C.A.N. 1143, 1153. The resulting report from the Department of the Treasury similarly observed: ‘Many taxpayers are apparently surprised to learn that under current law their divorce decree’s allocation of liabilities is not binding on creditors (including the IRS) who do not participate in the divorce proceedings.’ U.S. Dep’t of the Treasury, Report to the Congress on Joint Liability and Innocent Spouse Issues 44 (1998), https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/tax-policy/Documents/Report-Joint-Liability-Innocent-Spouse1998.pdf. (The report suggested that binding the IRS to the results of a divorce decree was impractical. Id. at 41-44.)” 2017 T.C.Memo. 80., at pp. 6-7.

There’s more, but you get the idea.

If you want to bind IRS to your divorce decree, serve them. If you can.

An author, teacher, advocate and trusted advisor, Lew Taishoff is a New York City-based attorney with 51 years of experience in corporate and individual tax and real estate matters. He is an Enrolled Agent, examined and admitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service, and admitted to practice before the United States ... Continue reading →